Chicory was one of the first beers we started brewing at our pub back when it opened in 1995. It's a dark beer made with a bunch of roasted chicory, organic Mexican coffee, St. John's Wort and licorice root. We use whole-leaf Cascade and Fuggle hops, as well as pale, roasted and oatmeal grains.

More User Reviews:

Poured a near pitch black color with huge oof-white head I had to wait a few minutes to drink it so the head could go down,smell was of deep roasted coffee and bitter chocolate.Taste was coffeeish and roasty with some earthiness lingering in there as well.A nice complex stout but a little watery.It is slightly different then the bottle I had a few months ago not quite as chocolaty,not sure if this was an older bottle or a different recipe.

Appearance  Very dark, almost black, in the body with a decent head that went down quick and clean.

Smell  The dark roasted coffee flavors are here in force along with a hint of chicory. If youve ever had chicory in coffee before, this one is close.

Taste  This one delivers. The coffee is big and prominent. This is more like drinking an iced coffee than a beer. The malt is present though and very flavorful. The cocoa powder compliment rounds out the taste.

Mouthfeel  Thinner than I would have preferred but otherwise good in the mouth. It has the creamy texture of a cold, pressed cup of coffee with a little sweetness to soften the bite.

Drinkability  This one went down nicely and helped cool my mouth in between salsa tastings.

Thin red brown body with a short lived, carbonated head. Aroma is almost all coffee with just a pinch of nuttiness and smoke. Flavor has no distinguishing chicory, however, tons of roasted coffee and some vanilla and banana notes are present. Dry but unbalanced. Too thin and not very exciting.

Pours thick and dark, black with hints of brown; quickly dissipating, tan colored head comprised of big bubbles. The aroma up front is very pleasing - "real" chocolates, deep, deep chocolate candies and cocoa beans, bittersweet. Roasted malts, of course, are abundant in their most raw form. Sweetness can be detected on the nose, as can a touch of smokiness. Surprisingly thin body, especially since the pour looked to be quite thick. Roasty up front, touch of smoked wood chips which is quickly displaced by sweet chocolate flavored malts; some cocoa beans, light coffee flavors. Quite a heavy floral hop flavor profile, which is always nice to balance things out in a stout. It might actually be a little TOO prominent near the end, but maybe I'm just being nit-picky. The smokiness comes back a bit in the aftertaste - I guess that's the "chicory", although I never would have guessed chicory of it wasn't in the name of the beer. Medium-high amount of carbonation.

Eh, this one is okay. It was good at first, but I kind of started to grow tired of it. It wasn't offering anything more as it went on, and it kind of got one-dimensional and boring. Nice hop profile, but actually kind of weak on the malt robustness I was expecting.

This was the most interesting stout have had in a while partly because it wasn't very interesting. There was definately no "thud" as the pour hit the bottom of the glass. I felt this was a lighter bodied stout, somthing that I am not used to be offered in the winter months. The lack of distinct smell definately allows the flavor to ambush you. The pour left a relatively indiscript dark brown stout in my glass topped with a tanish head. The first sip is fantastic with no unpleasant lingering of flavor on the back of your tongue. The mouth feel is as average as a stout's could be, again allowing the flavor to be the star. This was a terrific beer that I enjoyed over the several days that it remained on tap. I would highly recommend this beer to anyone for drinking or braising!

Bottled on 10/31/08 so beer was about 15.5 months old at time of drinking

It pours a deep rich brown with a cappuccino colored head that dies quickly into a perimeter of bubbles around the glass.

The nose seems like a nice marriage of dark malts, licorice, subtle coffee. A nice sweet smell is on the back end

The taste starts with a little bit of roasted malts and coffee like flavors then transitions into a real unique kind of taste that i can only describe it is it reminds me of the way a beer tastes when it's been oak aged but without the wood taste. I mean by that it gets kind of dry in the middle and sucks the rest of the flavors away. It finishes pretty dry in the mouth despite a nice sweetness up front. It's quite unique and still pretty strong after over a year in the bottle. I am getting some age and oxidation of this beer but it isn't over the top at this point but I do not see it getting any better. I'd say 12 months is a good lifespan.

Pours a very dark brown, practically black, with a very light brown or off-white soapy head of perhaps 1-2 fingers. Nice retention of several minutes and some nice lacing.

There is plenty of dark roasted coffee on the nose with some interesting earthy notes in there.

Dark roasty malted flavors of coffee and dark chocolate. Some subtle sweetness is in there as well that adds to the mouthfeel and works to bring everything together. There is some bittering but it's hard to tell if it is from the roast or from whatever hops were used. There is a touch of pine-laced hops in the finish but the linger is all dark bitter coffee.

Mouthfeel is good, not too heavy but well matched for the flavors. The carbonation matches well and only lends to the decent mouthfeel.

Overall this is another great product from Dogfish Head and I would expect nothing less. A very good brew and recommended to anyone out there that enjoys a good coffee stout.

The DFH Chicory Stout pours into my SN tulip glass a deep charcoal black with a half inch of bubbly khaki head that recedes to a cap over the brew. Aromas feature dark, roasted, slightly smoky malts along with raisins, baking cocoa and earthy coffee. Smells fresh with a slight vinous background.

First sip brings a roasty, toasty maltiness along with a mellow smoky coffee flavor. There's an interesting earthy cocoa flavor that I'm guessing is from the chicory. Hints of vinous dark fruits and raisins appear again in the background along with some hops. Somewhat dry and slightly pasty. Lingering chalkiness and an astringent character that makes my mouth tingle. An interesting stout.

Mouthfeel is pleasing with good body and a vibrant carbonation that propels each sip. An enjoyably different stout that I wouldn't mind enjoying on occassion. Fairly easy drinking. I'd say this one is worth your time.

This was a mildly exciting beer. It was a black color with a coffee-colored head. The odor was all dark chocolate and coffee. It tasted like black coffee with a little chocolate and hops in the background. It was smooth and rich, but I think I expected more from it.

Poured into the glass very dark, had a surprisingly big head,slighly malty sweet aroma,slightly sweet malty taste with a sharp smokey punctuation of what I assumed to be chicory, really somewhat bitter.Its nice, different perhaps a little to bitter for me.

The first thing I notice about this pour is the sound of its fizz--ample carbonation, I suppose. A full five minutes after the pour, carbon dioxide bubbles still head to the surface. Quite simply, it's black like a stout. Lacing is average. All in all, this is an average-looking stout. +0.5 for the DFH font--I'm notorious for including the label/bottle in my appearance rating.

The first smell I got was Mexican coffee--pleasingly so. When I dip my nose into the glass, I smell the roast. With help from the label, I identify that as chicory. After a quick glance at what chicory is, my next aroma descriptor is herbal. I like it, and it's certainly more unique than the look.

I like the taste. The roasted taste sorta sits on my lips, and I enjoy its presence. It's a nice Mexican coffee taste that I probably enjoy more in this cold beer than I would in a hot coffee pot. The roasted chicory taste really smoothes out things. I can't help but wonder how this would work with more ABV. I guess I'm used to big-boy coffee imperial stouts that offer more bang and more warmth. I'm debating whether a stout at 5.2% ABV and what I'm guessing is 300 calories is worth it to me...then I look it up and see 185 calories/12oz serving! That's impressive. Surely that's not characteristic of a stout? Still, I can picture myself enjoying this beer at Christmas with chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

The mouthfeel is average. The aformentioned carbonation does what you'd expect as you hold the beer with mouth closed. +0.5 for the roasted lip-taste sensation. I like the taste of this beer, and I'm almost giddy it's "only" 185 calories. To me, it's another unique and worthwhile effort from Dogfish Head. I mean--Mexican coffee/roasted chicory! Now only if I had an imperial DFH coffee (maybe oatmeal or maple syrup) production to review....

i had been eyeing dogfish head's chicory stout for awhile at my local package store and decided to give it a shot:

Appearance- mocha colored head, almost inch thick, strong lacings. coffee black color, after head settles it really looks like a glass of coke.

Smell- smells like burnt coffee with hints of dark chocolate. i really had to get my nose into this beer to coax the smell out but pleasant once it hit the nostrils. very smoky.

Taste- cold bitter coffee and smoky at first which leads to a chocolately sweet finish, really earthy. alcohol is not really present. aftertaste is strange and very strong.

Mouthfeel- medium body with noticeable carbonation.

Drinkability- this beer is fairly drinkable especially if you really enjoy coffee and i could see myself drinking this once and a while but i would definitely have to be in the mood for it. it is not a standout stout but worth a try.